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Indian paintings often depict a complete worldconstructed rather than depicted realistically and sometimes a completely imaginary one. This book provides glimpses into the many worlds painted by Rajput and Mughal artists in the 16th to 19th centuries.
Pleasure Gardens of the Mind documents an exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, chosen from the collection of Jane Greenough Green and held in 1993, to demonstrate some of the richness and stylistic variety of the Indian pictorial tradition. The book begins with a brief overview of Indian painting, followed by four thematic groupings of the paintings. Sectional introductions discuss the nature of religious paintings, pictures of human and divine lovers, musical modes given visible form, and the painted worlds of courtiers and kings. Individual entries describe the subject and style and discuss the dates and locations of each paintings production. The text is by three eminent writers, who were then staff members of the L.A. County Museum's Indian and Southeast Asian Art Section.

About the Authors

Pratapaditya Pal has been associated as curator with leading American museums with Indian collections and has taught at several universities. He is an authority on the arts of the Indian subcontinent, particularly the Himalayas, and Southeast Asia.
Janice Leoshko is Associate Professor of Asian Art at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a specialist in Indian sculpture and Buddhist art.
Stephen Markel is The Harry and Yvonne Lenart Curator and Department Head of South and Southeast Asian Art at Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Praise

"The Indian paintings featured herein were created mostly by unknown artists between 1550 and 1850: members of ruling families and others who constructed their worlds and dreams in complex, detailed scenes."Midwest Book Review